Shower pipe for paper or pulp machines



SHOWER PIPE FOR PAPER OR PULP MACHINES Filed March 1927 [Fig.1.

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Patented July 16, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLAUDE L. SPAFFORD, F SHERBROOKE, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO IMPROVED PAPER MACHINERY COMPANY, OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SHOWER PIPE FOR PAPER OR PULP MACHINES.

Application filed March 8, 1927. Serial No. 173,670.

This invention relates to improvements in paper or pulp machines, and more particularly to devices for throwing a shower or spray of water upon the partsv of said machines or the stock passing through the same, and consists in devices designed to facilitate and simplify the clearing or cleaning of such shower devices.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying illustration of one specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, showing one form of the invention applied to a paper or pulp machine, and herein a centrifugal pulp screen;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken through the shower pipe with which the machine of Fig. 1 is equipped;

Fig. 4 is a detail in sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the method of coupling together one or more sectional parts of the clearing device;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan showing the adjacent inter-fitting ends of the sectional parts of the clearing device; and

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional elevation on the line 66 in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I have there shown for illustrative purposes one form of the inve'ntion applied to a centrifugal screen of the general type illustrated in prior Patent No. 1,571,736, granted February 2, 1926 to Reed and Spafford. In this machine the stock is fed through suitable supply pipes 11 and enters through the end plates 13 into a a screening chamber formed within the foraminous screen drum 15, the screened stock passing through the drum to an outer screened-stock chamber formed between the screen drum and an outer casing 17.

To wash the surface of the screen drum and dilute the fibre thereon, one or more shower pipes 19 are provided which pass through suitably packed openings in the opposite end plates 13 and extend the entire length of the screened-stock chamber, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pipe being provided with one or more series of peripheral openings 21 (see Fig. 3) and having external connections 23 to a suitable source of water under pressure, so as to direct a shower of water inwardly against the surface of the screen drum for substantially its entire length.

While the invention is shown applied to a centrifugal screen, it may be usefully used in connection with various other kinds of machines for handling pulp and paper stock or'similar fibrous material, which machines I have included within the general term of paper and pulp machines.

In apparatus of this class, the interior of the shower pipes tends to accumulate foreign material in the course of usage, which may clog or stop the orifices and reduce the efficiency of the shower. The white water or Waste is commonly used for shower purposes and this frequently carries into the shower pipes more or less slime and fibrous waste and frequently slivers, all of which tends to stop the shower pipe openings. One object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive means for clearing the interior of the pipe and the orifices therein which can be readily manipulated from time to time from the outside of the casing of the machine and without the necessity of opening the pipes and disconnecting the same from the source of water supply.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 6'inclusive, I have shown for that purpose a rotatable shaft 25 within and extending through the entire length of the pipe 19, this shaft being journaled at one end in the cap piece 27, which constitutes the end closure for the pipe 19, and at the opposite end in the pipe coupling or fitting 29. The shaft 25 may consist of a single section, but to render it readily adaptable to long shower pipes it is here shown as composed of sections. Any number of such sections may be employed, but herein, by Way of illustration, two sections are shown comprising the shaft part 25 and the somewhat similar coupled section 25.

The section 25 at the fitting 29 has an extension 31 which passes through a packed able independently of the section 25 and might similarly be provided with an operating handle exterior to the end closure cap 27.

' Herein, however, for facilitating its usage,

both sections are rotated as a unit by the hand crank 33, the two sections being coupled together by an interfitting key and socket connection, such as is shown in Figs. 4c to 6 inclusive.

For this purpose the end of the section adjoining the end of the section 25 has an enlarged head presenting an axial socket having a portion 37 of circular cross section and also a portion 39 which is formed by slotting'the end of the head across its axis. The adjoining end of the section 25 is formed with a projection 4C1 of circular cross section, adapted to enter the seat within the socket 37, and a laterally extended key portion 43 of rectangular cross sectionadapted to fit within the slot 39 and effect a nonrotatable connection between the two shaft sections. Accordingly, in assembling the shaft sections it is only necessary to fit the end of the section 25 within the socketed head of the section 25 to provide a continuous shaft rotatable as a unit.

Mounted upon the shaft, or upon the sections composing the same, there is'provided a a clearing device longitudinally so dimensioned as to extend across the space occupied by the openings and adapted when the shaft is turned to engage the inner walls of the pipe and clear the foreign material from the apertures therein. 7

In the illustrated form of the invention, the clearing device takes the form of a radially arranged scraper or blade 45 mounted on the shaft section 25 and extending uninterruptedly for the distance represented by the spread of the apertures 21 adjacent thereto, and a similar scraper 45 mounted on the shaft section 25 and extending for a distance represented by the span of the apertures adjacent the latter shaft section. Nhen the crank handle is turned the scraper 45 is caused to pass over theinner walls of the shower pipe and remove the material which tends to clog the openings therein. The scraper blade is preferably provided with sharp corners so as to constitute a cutting edge adapted not only to scrape off the slime orsediment but also tocut through fibres or slivers lodged in theopenings.

In order to give the clearing shaft dis tributed bearing support within the pipe and prevent the scraper from springing away from the inner surface thereof, the

pipe section 25 is additionally provided with a suitable number of bearing members in the form of separated blades or projections 47, and the shaft 25 with similar bearing members 47, these being mounted at intervals radially on their respective shaft sections and extending over the shaft section at substantially diametrically opposite points from the scraper blade 45. These supplemental bearing members 47 and 47 accordingly preserve the alignment of the shaft sections and insure the effectiveness of the scrapers 45 and 45 when the crank handle is turned.

Accordingly, if at any time the shower is found to be ineffective, due to the accumula tion of foreign material in the shower pipe the operative is required only to turn the crank handle a few times and thereby rotate the scraper within the shower pipe. Since its manipulation requires no longitudinal extension of the shaft or scraper nor withdrawal of the shaft or the pipe, it offers no interference with the closely adjacent locations of other machines or objects.

lVhile I have herein shown and described for the purpose of illustration one specific embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that extensive deviations may be made therefrom, all without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims:

1. A shower pipe for a paper or pulp machine adapted for connection to an external source of water supply and having openings to discharge shower water, a clearing device within the pipe for clearing the openings comprising a shaft mounted to turn within the pipe and having plurality of sections coupled by a key and socket connection, said shaft sections carrying scraper blades fixedly secured thereto and engaging the inner walls of the pipe and'longitudinally dimensioned to be coextensive with the space occupied by the openings, saidshaft sections being also provided with separated bearing projections extending therefrom oppositely from said scraper blades, the said device having a crank handle connected to said shaft to turn the same.

2. A shower pipe for a paper or pulp machine adapted for connection to an external source of water supply and having openings to discharge shower water, a clearing device within the pipe for clearing the openings comprising a shaft having one or more scraper blades fixedly secured thereto and engaging the inner walls of the pipe and longitudinally dimensioned to be coextensive with the space occupied by the openings, said shaft being also provided with radial projections extending therefrom oppositely from said scraper blades to maintain the shaft in alignment, and a crank handle connected to said shaft to turn the same.

3. A shower pipe for a paper or pulp machine having shower openings, a shaft journaled at opposite ends in said pipe and having means outside the pipe for turning the same, one or more scraper blades fixedly secured to said shaft, extending radially from said shaft and bearing against the inner Walls of the pipe, and a plurality of separated radial extensions from the opposite side of the shaft and also adapted to bear against 10 the inner Walls of the pipe.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CLAUDE L. SPAFFORD. 

